Word: soong
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...would like to respond to the editorial written by Allen Soong in your October 8 issue regarding the film The Joy Luck Club and Asian-American male identity. I first note that my use of the term "Asian" refers primarily to those of East Asian descent. I do not feel qualified to address these issues in the Southeast and South Asian communities, although I'm sure there would be some interesting parallels...
Poor Allen Soong: He went to see Joy Luck Club and was left feeling hurt at the negative view of Asian men. To his credit, Allen has placed his finger on a raw nerve in the Asian-American male psyche, but he doesn't seem to understand that the characters he objected to are not simply mainstream stereotypes of Asian men (especially given the involvement of Amy Tan and Wayne Wang with the entire production process). In fact, they are images that need to be viewed in the context of the very real sexism that Asian women have...
...specific example, the patriarchal system within Chinese society and the Chinese-American community has ended men, exactly like those depicted in The Joy Luck Club (I, too can invoke personal acquaintances, but unlike Soong, I see many men who fit those descriptions precisely). On a very simple-minded level, anyone who has been to a Chinese family gathering and observed who does all the cooking, serving and cleaning-up will know exactly what I mean...
Several of the Asian male characters that Soong complains about are figures from the past, from a time when men were expected to prove or act upon their maleness aggressively. Certainly, there were men who did not abuse women; there were also women who were complicit in maintaining patriarchy (the film portrays many such women, including a cruel second wife, a mother who gives her daughter away, and a mother who throws her daughter out of the house after she is raped). But the truth is that throughout history, many men have actively kept good women down. Somebody ordered...
...understandable if Soong, like practically everyone in the audience, was temporarily blinded by tears at moments. But his comments also seem blind. They do not do justice to the film's power, including the effect of merely seeing a large, fine cast of Asian men and women on the screen...